Seann Nelipinath hopes the U.S.-India Healthcare Summit he has helped organize as chairman of the India Chamber of Commerce-USA will spur business partnerships between the two countries.

Nelipinath said he also would like to see the summit, which the Consulate of India in Chicago also assisted in organizing, evolve into a yearly event that helps build momentum for the 2023 World's Fair, known as Expo 2023.

A member of the advisory group that is bidding to bring the science and technology fair to Minnesota, Nelipinath conceived of the health care summit as a way to support the "Healthy People, Healthy Planet" theme the group has chosen for Expo 2023.

The summit will take place from Aug. 3-5 at the Commons Hotel in Minneapolis. Indian Ambassador Arun Kumar Singh is to be the keynote speaker. The event will bring together health care executives and government leaders from both countries.

Nelipinath, a native of India who has lived in Minnesota for 20 years, launched the India Chamber of Commerce-USA in 2009. The nonprofit chamber serves as a global partnership advisory and consulting group that promotes partnerships and joint ventures focusing economic growth based on innovation and sustainability.

Nelipinath, CEO of Imperia LLC, works with companies on change management, business strategy development and mergers and acquisitions. Addressing another interest of his, he hopes to organize a "cyber security" conference to address improving online protection for consumers and companies.

Q: How would Expo 2023 benefit the state?

A: It is going to draw up a significant opportunity for business partnerships with other countries. I see Minnesota as being the innovation capital of the world, but we have not been speaking about it much. We need to share our opportunities and share our successes.

Q: Why did you choose health care as the subject of the summit?

A: We are good at innovation, and we are good at health care. This is an area where we can really showcase the state and we can really make some good partnerships, which India is really looking forward to.

Q: What are you working to accomplish with the India Chamber of Commerce-USA?

A: The goal of the India Chamber of Commerce is to act as peer-to-peer collaborators, to bring a two-way street for a partnership between both countries. The key focus is that we want to move away from a state of mind where we think about competition and move into a state of mind where we're thinking about collaboration.

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